Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the number of voters aged (a) 18 to 30 and (b) over 65 who hold a form of ID which will be accepted at a polling station.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Cabinet Office research shows that 99% of those aged 18-29 held an accepted form of photographic identification, and 98% of those aged over 70 hold an accepted form of photographic identification.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, or whose appearance has significantly changed in comparison to their existing identification documents, can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate that matches their current appearance.
Polling station staff will be given appropriate training and there will be a requirement for privacy screens to allow electors who wish to have their form of identification viewed in private able to do so.
The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.
Northern Ireland has successfully operated photographic identification in polling stations since 2003, when introduced by the last Labour Government.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, further to his Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 77576 on UN Committee On the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, when the Government plans to submit the next periodic report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 77576, answered on the 7 November 2022.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his policy is on funding any potential shortfall in rent in the event that Afghans resettled under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme are placed in properties where the rent is higher than the Local Housing Allowance rate.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
A £25.5 million Housing Costs Fund is available to local authorities to help meet the costs of housing for larger families being resettled through the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), and for those who arrived in the UK before 31 August 2021 via the evacuation from Afghanistan and are being resettled through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), or are British Nationals being provided with resettlement support. The additional housing support is being provided to enable local authorities to come forward with offers of accommodation to larger families as soon as possible. For example, it can be used to provide a top-up payment, where it is needed to meet the gap between market rent and the Local Housing Allowance, or to help meet shortfalls which impact on a family's ability to cover their rent.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether resettled Afghans who reject two offers of accommodation will be considered intentionally homeless or will still be able to apply to a local authority for homelessness assistance.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Homelessness is a devolved matter, but in all parts of the UK Afghan households would be able to apply for homelessness assistance if asked to leave bridging accommodation, following rejection of two appropriate offers of accommodation.
In England, the local authority will have duties to try and help them secure accommodation to 'relieve' their homelessness. These duties apply irrespective of the reason for them becoming homeless. If the local authority has been unable to relieve homelessness within 56 days of accepting the duty, they will have to decide whether a longer term housing duty is owed, including assessing if the household is intentionally homeless.
Housing authorities must not adopt general policies which seek to pre-define circumstances that do or do not amount to intentional homelessness. In each case, housing authorities must form a view in the light of all their inquiries about that particular case. Guidance about the law relating to intentional homelessness in England is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-9-intentional-homelessness.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a mechanism for refugees from Ukraine to transfer to the Homes for Ukraine scheme in the event that they arrive via the Ukraine Family Scheme and subsequently find themselves homeless.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Family Scheme is a Home Office visa route and once an individual is in the United Kingdom they will have entered on that visa.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to raise awareness of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme among Ukrainians who have fled to other countries.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 148045 on 1 April 2022.
In addition, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is also working with NGOs, charities or other third-party organisations.